Brands Transforming Our World

Cornelia Raportaru has built her career on curiosity and adaptability – growing up in post-communist Romania and rising to lead one of Europe’s most innovative logistics tech companies. In this episode, she shares how Stuart is transforming last-mile delivery through AI, sustainability and precise delivery models, and what she’s learned about leadership, resilience and the future of urban logistics.Visit URL: https://stuart.com/

Oxford Ionics CEO & Co-Founder, Dr. Chris Ballance, joins us to share his journey from getting (very briefly!) expelled from school to leading one of the UK’s most exciting quantum computing companies. We discuss breaking world records, building a $1bn business, the race to commercialise quantum and why brand matters as much as science.

In this episode of “Brands Transforming Our World“, we sit down with fintech founder Nina Mohanty, whose start-up Bloom Money is reimagining financial services for immigrant communities. Drawing on her Silicon Valley upbringing and her personal experience as the child of Indian and Taiwanese immigrants, Nina explains how traditional savings circles (used by communities worldwide) can serve as powerful tools for inclusion and economic resilience. 

Richard Holway MBE joins the Brands Transforming our World podcast to reflect on six decades in UK tech: from starting as a programmer in the 1960s to becoming one of the industry’s most trusted analysts and investors. He shares hard-won lessons on leadership, resilience, investment, and what makes a great tech business.

In this episode of Brands Transforming Our World, we sit down with Dame Stephanie Shirley CH: child refugee, pioneering tech entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She shares her extraordinary journey from arriving in the UK without her parents, founding an all-female remote working start-up in the early 60s and building it into a $3bn tech company. We also explore her game-changing approach to philanthropy and what still drives her at the age of 91.

In this conversation we speak with James Robinson, an innovative senior communications leader who spent six years leading global communications for fintech pioneer Marqeta, including its successful IPO on Nasdaq in 2021.  James discusses the strategies, tactics and learnings while leading Marqeta through the lead up to and through its public listing. 

Listen as we sit down with Nigel Toon, CEO of Graphcore, to hear how one of the UK’s most successful engineers, entrepreneurs and leaders is accelerating the future of AI. From a fascinating career at the cutting edge of semiconductor technology - through founding Graphcore in a Bristol pub, selling to Softbank and innovating at the cutting edge of AI - it’s a fascinating 45 minutes.  

In this episode conversation we meet with Ram Ramachander, CEO at Hitachi ZeroCarbon.  Ram takes us on a deep dive into the innovations driving a sustainable future and how Hitachi ZeroCarbon is spearheading efforts to achieve a zero carbon world. From groundbreaking technology to bold strategies, we’ll explore how brands like these are reshaping industries and making a difference to our planet.